Leo and the Vatican

A couple of weeks ago, Pope Leo XIV convened an Extraordinary Consistory, that is, a special 2 day meeting with all the Cardinals of the world. A Cardinal has two distinct roles in the life of the Church: 1) To elect new popes, and 2) To discuss with and advise the Pope on important matters of the Church.

That second role is what happens at a Consistory, and while Ordinary Consistories happen with regularity for the creation of new Cardinals and the Canonizations of new Saints with a small grouping of the Cardinals who actually reside in Rome, an Extraordinary Consistory happens less often and involves as many Cardinals as possible. In fact, Pope Francis only held two Extraordinary Consistories during his twelve-year pontificate. Leo seems to want to hold more, though, in line with earlier popes, stating that he intends to have one annually.

Just a few hours prior to the start of the Consistory, he held his normal Wednesday General Audience with the public, where he talked about the Second Vatican Council. His remarks there served as a sort of public preface to what was in store for the private discussions amongst the Cardinals. He announced that for 2026, he will begin “a new cycle of catechesis that will be dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and the rereading of its Documents”, and that “While we hear the call not to let [the council’s] prophecy fade, and to continue to seek ways and means to implement its insights, it will be important to get to know it again closely, and to do so not through ‘hearsay’ or interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its documents and reflecting on their content”.

Leo, in his speech, reviewed some of the council’s principal fruits, including that it “rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children.”

It also led, he said, to a renewed understanding of the Church “as a mystery of communion and sacrament of unity between God and his people,” and it initiated an important 'liturgical reform’ by placing the mystery of salvation and the active and conscious participation of the entire people of God at its center… It helped us to open up to the world and to embrace the changes and challenges of the modern age in dialogue and co-responsibility, as a Church that wishes to open her arms to humanity,” he explained. He concluded saying, “As we approach the documents of Vatican Council II and rediscover their prophetic and contemporary relevance, we welcome the rich tradition of the life of the Church and, at the same time, we question ourselves about the present and renew our joy in running towards the world to bring it the Gospel of the kingdom of God, a kingdom of love, justice, and peace,”